The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-08-22
HELPING THE BLIND HEATHER.
W. III. Murray, Scorchman, Perfects a Sys-
tenn Whereby Blind Chin amen Can Read.

W. III. Murray, Scorchman, Perfects Sys-
tenn Whereby Blind Cinnamon Can Read.
The Christian Advocate.
A man who deserves to rank with the great
benefactors of the race is ". III. Murray, q
Scotch workingman, who has in wonderful
sense opened the eyes of the blind" Having
accidentally lost his arm in a saw-ml, he was
disabled from following his original vocation.
he obtained employment a letter-carrier in
the neighborhood of Glasgow, and was subse
quently employed by the Bible Society col
porteur. His remarkable facility for languages
attracted notice, and friends opened his way to
attend college classes His studies, how
ever, were not allowed to interfere
with his regular work. and he
at 3 O'Clock every morning to prepare for his
recitations. His interest had been aroused by
the number of blind persons who purchased
books printed on Moore's system At his earli-
est opportunity he studied this method. then
mastered Professor Bells system of Visible
Speech, and Brailles system of reading and
writing for the blind, by means of embossed
dots His great abilities being at length recog-
nized. he was sent by the National Bible Society
of Scotland its agent to Peklng His
labors there were at first but moderately
successful. but in preparing for them he
made discovery of incaculable value. He
found to his aurprse that Professor Bells sys-
tenn which ne had acquired merely as an inter
esting curiosity facilitated his study of the
Chinese language: so he noted down the value of
every sound he mastered and thus ascertained
that these really limited to 420-a goodly
number, rs compared with our own twenty four,
tinct and grabbed characters which every China
man must acquire before he can read such a
book as the Bible il ordinary print. Now. there
is not city in China where blind beggars do
not abound, frequently going about IN COM
panes of dozen more, and assembling
at certain snots in clamorous crowds hungry
and almost naked, truly of all men most misera-
BILE. 1t was natural that benevolent man, as
thoroughly equipped Mr.. Murray had now be-
come. should seek to help these outcasts. He
set himself to reduce the 42O sounds to q system
of equivalent dots and his iOpannitv
was at length rewarded py finding that he was
thus able accurately to represent the per-
picking sounds of the language, and to
place the bewildering multitude of Chinese
characters. He next with soicitude expert
mented on the practibility of his invention.
Selecting poor little orphan blind beggar.
who was lying almost naked in the streets, and
who Notwithstanding his loneliness and power
ty, always seemed cheerful and content Mr.
Murray took him in hand, washed and clothed
him. and undertook to feed and lodge him, pro-
vided he would apply himself in earnest to mas
tering this new learning Naturally the boy was
delighted, and we can imagine his ecstacy and
within six weeks, he able only to read
fiuently, but to write with remarkable accuracy
To complete the experiment. two blind beggar
men were next induced to learn, the boy acting
as teacher. One able to read
well within two months; the 9TH
er more slowly. but also with great
Gordon Cumming, who gives the above nara
tive at length, "that made their acquaintance,
and 1t struck intensely pathetic, as We
stood at the door OF a dark room-for it was
n ght-to hear what knew to be words of Holy
read by men who, less than four
months previously. sat begging in the streets in
misery and rags. and on the verge of starvation.
To their countrymen it appears little short of
miraculous that blind beggars should be thus
Jared for by foreigners and endowed with appar-
entity supernatural powers; and when one is
ent out to read In the street in company with
lative colporteur. crowds gather round to see
md hear and to buy the book"